PPQ's are normally prepared by the reacting of bis-alpha-carbonyl compounds with an organic tetramine. In U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,852,244 and 3,956,238, Heath et al., has disclosed the formation of polyether quinoxalines from a wide variety of polyether bis-alpha-carbonyl compounds and aromatic organic tetramines.
In "Synthesis of poly(phenylyquinoxaline) with High Glass Transition Temperatures," Polymer Prep, 28, 71 (1987), Harris et al. has described the synthesis of various bis(phenylglyoxalyl) napthalenes and their use in the preparation of PPQ's.
In "The Synthesis and Characterization of Phenolic Hydroxyl Terminated Polyphenylquinoxaline Oligomers," Polymer Prep, 28, 69 (1987), Labadie et al. has described the preparation of hydroxy terminated polyphenyl quinoxalines.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,326,915, Jackson et al. described the preparation and use of various self-polymerizable benzopyrazin or quinoxalines, but these self-polmerizable monomers are polymerized by the same classical procedures as described in Heath et al. above.
More recently, Connell et al. described in "Synthesis of Polyphenylquinoxalines via Aromatic Nucleophilic Displacement," Polymer Prep, 29, 172 (1988), the formation of PPQ's by reacting bis-hydroxyphenyl-quinoxalines with an activated difluoro monomers under aromatic nucleophilic substitution reaction conditions.
Hedrick et al. have also described in "Synthesis of Poly(aryl ether-phenylquinoxaline)" Proceedings from Polymeric Material Science & Engineering, 59, 42 (1988), the formation of PPQ's by reacting bis-fluoro-polyphenylated-quinoxalines with various bis-hydroxylated aromatic compounds under aromatic nucleophilic substitution reaction conditions.
However, the aromatic nucleophilic substitution process for making PPQ's still requires the purification and use of two independent components.
Thus, it appears desirable to manufacture a self polymerization quinoxaline which polymerizes under aromatic nucleophilic substitute reaction conditions to yield PPQ's and copolymers containing PPQ's incorporating the self polymerizable phenylquinoxalines. These PPQ and PPQ copolymers especially PPQ copolymers containing polyether-ether-ketone, sometimes referred herein as PEEK, repeat units or PPQ copolymers containing polyethersulfone, sometimes herein referred to as PES, repeat units have excellent thermal and mechanical properties and are ideally suited as useful thermoplastic in the areas of aerospace, high temperature adhesive, microelectronic and membrane applications. These copolymers have properties that are tunable to make high temperature thermoplastics, highly crystalline thermoplastics, lowly crystalline thermoplastics, organic soluble thermoplastics or organic insoluble thermoplastics.